Roemin abit

We had to check out at 10am so I started back home quite early. We decided to find a NT place for lunch and stopped at Wentworth Castle gardens near Barnsley. The receptionist asked if we needed the buggy to get to the tea room, must be looking very old. We had a coffee and scone in the simple cafe (I think we looked the youngest there!) before setting out in the rain for home. The driving conditions on the M1 were awful for most of the way home with heavy rain and spray.

Going to the races was the object of this mini break and we were within walking distance of the race course, so after a good breakfast in the cafe round the corner we set off with other race goers. It was about a mile mostly on the flat with no hurdles! Our dress code was 'smart casual' but we encountered a lot of suited race goers with partners in 'Ascot hats' and outrageous dresses.    The meeting was the called The Dante Festival and the first of the year. We commandeered 3 picnic tables in front of the grandstand for the afternoon. We had a good view of the track about 2 furlongs from the finishing line. We had a bets on most of the races, there were 8, and thanks to some tips from the butcher on Bishopsthorpe Road and a steward, we both made a small profit. Despite the weather forecast we missed the rain and even enjoyed a bit of sunshine at times to accompany the drinks and snacks outside on the picnic tables. We walked back to the house with the crowds after the ...

Tuesday was just a day for wandering into York. First we found the others for lunch at Wetherspoons and then a stroll down the famous shambles shopping lane with Gill and Alan. We finished the afternoon walk with a coffee and a free doughnut before returning to base to change for dinner. The other party had booked a big table (13 of us) at a nearby Italian restaurant which also served as another birthday meal for Stephens 70th. I was nearly given the surprise cake and candle by mistake!  That was a surprise to me at least.

We drove up to York today, Monday, to join the Dean family for an English city break organised by CJ. We all stayed self catering next door to each other in AirBNB's. We had 109 Nunnery Lane with Gill. Alan and Andrew who arrived on Tuesday. Next door were Chris, Sandra, CJ, Lisa and Graham. On the corner in the converted old pub were Kim, Keith and Stephen. We arrived after the others and settled in to our front room with a bay window seat overlooking the the street. We joined the main party for a 'pub crawl' starting down by the river and then insisted on being thrown out of the last one, The Swan,  at closing time. Thats another tick for Rosemary's 80th bucket list.

We had a very late flight so it was a lazy breakfast and casual packing followed by a stroll through Planty Park to the remaing old town gate. The old wall had a colourful display of artists work and we walked down the Royal Way to a narrow lane off the square for lunch in a traditional old Polish restaurant. We had another long coffee break at the Chopin Bar on the square people watching and admiring the immaculated turned out coach and horses. We finally wandered back to the hotel ready to be picked up at 6:30 and stocked up with fudge from reception. The return Jet2 flight landed on schedule and I drove back to Croft arriving just before midnight.

The main event today was a Hello Cracow tour of the German concentration camps. I pre-booked it with Viator and we were delayed until 1:30 so had time to walk all the way across town and pick up some snacks before meeting the mini bus for the 1.5 hour journey and walking tour of Auschwitz and Birkenau camps with Michael a polish guide. The sites are austere and bleak with no multi-media displays, just a huge simple static memorial which we thought was very approriate.  It was a long day with a lot of walking, stone stairs and a bit rushed at times. I got seperated from our group in Birkenau taking too long to take photos. We did not arrive back in Krakow until 9:00 pm and walked back through the square where there was a small Ukrainian demonstration and singing around the central statues. We had a late dinner in Chopin restaurant, enourmous pork schitzels and potatoes, on the square by the horse drawn carriage station.

The day started with another super breakfast, then we took the tram to the  Jewish quarter which has several old synagoes and is being redeveloped as a trendy eating and night life area. We visited 2 synagogue including the old cemetery and had traditional zapporelli (like a long pizza) in the old market. This is popular with young poles and tourists with cheap fast food outlets. Then we walked towards the Schindler Enamel factory over the Visula river but found that it would be closed so headed to the ghetto area and heroe's square via the railway station. We took the tram back to the theatre and went to the hotel where we had a good but expensive meal, on our own, in the 4* restaurant.

The hotel is just outside the old town boundary in the university quarter. We took a gentle stroll into the huge town square then walked down Planty park past several old universities to the Wavel castle hill. Just wandered around the castle grounds without going inside the royal castle or the cathedral but had a light lunch of perogia a sort of dumpling. Walked back through the park and stopped for coffee and cake in the student quarter.

We booked a city break with Jet2 holidays and drove to East Midlands to fly to Krakow on the 9:00pm flight. The private transfer took us to the 4 star Grand Ascot hotel where we arrived just before midnight.